[go: up one dir, main page]
IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/nbr/nberwo/31287.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Trends in the School Lunch Program: Changes in Selection, Nutrition & Health

Author

Listed:
  • Therese Bonomo
  • Diane Whitmore Schanzenbach
Abstract
There has been significant media attention on the issue of childhood obesity, leading policymakers to reform the National School Lunch Program (NSLP) to include stricter nutritional requirements. We use data on school lunch menus to document improvements in the nutritional quality of school meals between 1991 and 2010. We then evaluate how this change in nutritional content maps into obesity outcomes, using panel data on a nationally representative cohort of children, tracking them from kindergarten entry in fall 2010 through the end of fifth grade in spring 2016. We find little evidence that participation in the school lunch program leads to weight gain, as measured by changes in obesity, overweight, and BMI. These results suggest that improvements in the nutritional content of school lunches have been largely successful in reversing the previously negative relationship between school lunches and childhood obesity. Unrelated to school lunch participation, we find a strong relationship between mother’s obesity status and both the level and growth of children’s obesity, especially for girls and among high-SES families.

Suggested Citation

  • Therese Bonomo & Diane Whitmore Schanzenbach, 2023. "Trends in the School Lunch Program: Changes in Selection, Nutrition & Health," NBER Working Papers 31287, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    • Handle: RePEc:nbr:nberwo:31287
    Note: CH ED EH
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.nber.org/papers/w31287.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Marcus, Michelle & Yewell, Katherine G., 2022. "The Effect of Free School Meals on Household Food Purchases: Evidence from the Community Eligibility Provision," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 84(C).
    2. Krista Ruffini, 2022. "Universal Access to Free School Meals and Student Achievement: Evidence from the Community Eligibility Provision," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 57(3), pages 776-820.
    3. Davis, Will & Kreisman, Daniel & Musaddiq, Tareena, 2023. "The Effect of Universal Free School Meals on Child BMI," IZA Discussion Papers 16387, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    4. Daniel L. Millimet & Rusty Tchernis & Muna Husain, 2010. "School Nutrition Programs and the Incidence of Childhood Obesity," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 45(3).
    5. Belot, Michèle & James, Jonathan, 2011. "Healthy school meals and educational outcomes," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 30(3), pages 489-504, May.
    6. Peter Hinrichs, 2010. "The effects of the National School Lunch Program on education and health," Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 29(3), pages 479-505.
    7. Anderson, Patricia M. & Butcher, Kristin F. & Schanzenbach, Diane Whitmore, 2019. "Understanding recent trends in childhood obesity in the United States," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 34(C), pages 16-25.
    8. Anderson, Michael L. & Gallagher, Justin & Ramirez Ritchie, Elizabeth, 2018. "School meal quality and academic performance," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 168(C), pages 81-93.
    9. Amy Ellen Schwartz & Michah W. Rothbart, 2020. "Let Them Eat Lunch: The Impact of Universal Free Meals on Student Performance," Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 39(2), pages 376-410, March.
    10. Leos-Urbel, Jacob & Schwartz, Amy Ellen & Weinstein, Meryle & Corcoran, Sean, 2013. "Not just for poor kids: The impact of universal free school breakfast on meal participation and student outcomes," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 36(C), pages 88-107.
    11. Gundersen, Craig & Kreider, Brent & Pepper, John, 2012. "The impact of the National School Lunch Program on child health: A nonparametric bounds analysis," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 166(1), pages 79-91.
    12. Diane Whitmore Schanzenbach, 2009. "Do School Lunches Contribute to Childhood Obesity?," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 44(3).
    13. Travis A. Smith & Eliza M. Mojduszka & Shun Chen, 2021. "Did the New School Meal Standards Improve the Overall Quality of Children's Diets?," Applied Economic Perspectives and Policy, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 43(4), pages 1366-1384, December.
    14. Valizadeh, Pourya & Ng, Shu Wen, 2020. "The New school food standards and nutrition of school children: Direct and Indirect Effect Analysis," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 39(C).
    15. Nora Gordon & Krista Ruffini, 2021. "Schoolwide Free Meals and Student Discipline: Effects of the Community Eligibility Provision," Education Finance and Policy, MIT Press, vol. 16(3), pages 418-442, Summer.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Davis, Will & Kreisman, Daniel & Musaddiq, Tareena, 2023. "The Effect of Universal Free School Meals on Child BMI," IZA Discussion Papers 16387, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    2. Fang, Guanfu & Zhu, Ying, 2022. "Long-term impacts of school nutrition: Evidence from China’s school meal reform," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 153(C).
    3. Marcus, Michelle & Yewell, Katherine G., 2022. "The Effect of Free School Meals on Household Food Purchases: Evidence from the Community Eligibility Provision," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 84(C).
    4. Bütikofer, Aline & Mølland, Eirin & Salvanes, Kjell G., 2018. "Childhood nutrition and labor market outcomes: Evidence from a school breakfast program," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 168(C), pages 62-80.
    5. Michah W. Rothbart & Amy Ellen Schwartz & Emily Gutierrez, 2023. "Paying for Free Lunch: The Impact of CEP Universal Free Meals on Revenues, Spending, and Student Health," Education Finance and Policy, MIT Press, vol. 18(4), pages 708-737, Fall.
    6. Abouk, Rahi & Adams, Scott, 2022. "Breakfast After the Bell: The Effects of Expanding Access to School Breakfasts on the Weight and Achievement of Elementary School Children," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 87(C).
    7. Krista Ruffini, 2022. "Universal Access to Free School Meals and Student Achievement: Evidence from the Community Eligibility Provision," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 57(3), pages 776-820.
    8. Kurtz, Michael D. & Conway, Karen Smith & Mohr, Robert D., 2020. "Weekend feeding (“BackPack”) programs and student outcomes," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 79(C).
    9. Amy Ellen Schwartz & Michah W. Rothbart, 2020. "Let Them Eat Lunch: The Impact of Universal Free Meals on Student Performance," Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 39(2), pages 376-410, March.
    10. Frisvold, David E., 2015. "Nutrition and cognitive achievement: An evaluation of the School Breakfast Program," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 124(C), pages 91-104.
    11. repec:ags:aaea22:335700 is not listed on IDEAS
    12. Xhiselda Demaj, 2024. "Expanding Benefits: The Impact of a Universal Free School Meal Policy on Non-Cognitive Skills," Working Papers 2024: 11, Department of Economics, University of Venice "Ca' Foscari".
    13. Zhao, Chunkai & Chen, Boou & Song, Zhiyong, 2024. "School nutritious feeding and cognitive abilities of students in poverty: Evidence from the nutrition improvement program in China," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 159(C).
    14. Anderson, Michael L. & Gallagher, Justin & Ramirez Ritchie, Elizabeth, 2018. "School meal quality and academic performance," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 168(C), pages 81-93.
    15. Cabrera Hernández, Francisco-Javier, 2016. "Essays on the impact evaluation of education policies in Mexico," Economics PhD Theses 0316, Department of Economics, University of Sussex Business School.
    16. Petter Lundborg & Dan-Olof Rooth & Jesper Alex-Petersen, 2022. "Long-Term Effects of Childhood Nutrition: Evidence from a School Lunch Reform," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 89(2), pages 876-908.
    17. Agustina Laurito & Amy Ellen Schwartz, 2019. "Does School Lunch Fill the “SNAP Gap” at the End of the Month?," Southern Economic Journal, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 86(1), pages 49-82, July.
    18. Kristen Capogrossi & Wen You, 2017. "The Influence of School Nutrition Programs on the Weight of Low‐Income Children: A Treatment Effect Analysis," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 26(8), pages 980-1000, August.
    19. Travis A. Smith & Eliza M. Mojduszka & Shun Chen, 2021. "Did the New School Meal Standards Improve the Overall Quality of Children's Diets?," Applied Economic Perspectives and Policy, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 43(4), pages 1366-1384, December.
    20. Fritz Schiltz & Kristof De Witte, 2022. "Sugar rush or sugar crash? Experimental evidence on the impact of sugary drinks in the classroom," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 31(1), pages 215-232, January.
    21. Toossi, Saied, 2024. "The effect of universal free school meals on children’s food hardship," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 124(C).

    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • I14 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Health and Inequality
    • I18 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Government Policy; Regulation; Public Health
    • I21 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Analysis of Education

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:nbr:nberwo:31287. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: the person in charge (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/nberrus.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.